New Zealand Field Trips May 2007

[David Lyttle]

I half expected my good mate Dave down in Invercargill would have kicked off this month but I expect at the moment he is at home huddled by the fire shivering as an icy southerly blows up the Island. Fresh snow on the ranges today telling us winter is on its way.

I have spent most of this week in  South Westland exploring and looking round. Not much with an alpine flavour I am afraid but some of you may be able to recognise a few familiar plants growing in their natural environment. The area is one of the least modified parts of the country and consequently has been designated a World Heritage Area.

First picture is of the Hapuka Estuary south of Haast looking out to the coast. The swamp in the foreground contains cabbage tree (Cordyline australis), New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) and kowhai (Sophora microphylla) amongst numerous other species.

Next is a picture of the epiphytic fern Asplenium polydon. The plant bottom right is Astelia fragrans.

Third picture is of the Smoothwater River flowing through mixed beech/podocarp forest. The predominant beech species is silver beech, Nothofagus menziesi and the main podocarp species is rimu, Dacrydium cupressinium. The shrub on the right is pepper tree Pseudowintera colorata.

Two pictures of some forest mushrooms . I am not sure of their names. The first is a wood-rotting species and the second an ectomycorrhizal species associated with Nothofagus.

Picture six is of the filmy fern Trichomanes reniforme so named for obvious reasons. This fern is very common and the fronds will curl up in times of water scarcity which is not very often.

Last picture in this posting is of Jackson Head showing the wharf and fishing boats. The boats fish mainly for crayfish (lobster ) further down the coast and the catch is landed here a Jackson Bay where there is road access.

[Paddy Tobin]

Lovely, David.

Many thanks, Paddy

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks David - great pictures.
Time and time again you're leaving us all drooling and green with envy    But don't let that keep you from posting (many) more.

[t00lie]

David --Our weather here has up until the last few days been so mild, (no frosts), that i had considered another trip this weekend however as you say the southerly has put paid to that .However plenty to catch up on in the garden in between the light rain showers.

Great shots--especially the pic of the Kidney fern growing through the thick moss that is covering the tree trunk.Gives one an idea of the amount of rainfall that falls over there.

Did you manage to acquire any crayfish ?.......mmm.

Cheers Dave.

[David Lyttle]

Hi Dave,

As a matter of fact we were given a couple of crayfish by a local whose vehicle I towed out of the surf. Very nice they were too!

Some more pictures taken at Ship Creek just north of the Haast River where you can walk out through to the beach and then walk back through the coastal forest to the little lake behind the sand dunes.

First picture is of the lake which lies between the beach beyond the dunes on the right and the main road which is behind the trees on the left. At this stage it was beginning to rain so we retired to the DOC shelter to eat our lunch. It continued to rain and rained all night as it does on the West Coast - a figure of 150 mm was being bandied about. For the information of our overseas friends this amount of rain is by no means exceptional - there was even more rain the following night.

Out on the seaward side of the dunes I found this little Pimelea most likely Pimelea arenaria. There was a lot of evidence of rabbits living on the dunes much to the detriment of the vegetation. There  was gorse growing there too. The rabbits had cropped it where they could reach it into neat topiary shapes.

The highlight of this excursion was seeing this species of Wahlenbergia which is found there. I think its name is Wahlenbergia congesta but I do not have the reference that gives the correct current name on hand. It is growing here on the sand and was also growing in crevices in boulders.

[David Lyttle]

Following the rain we headed south to the Cascade Valley which is far as the road goes. All the rivers were running bank to bank and were a very impressive sight. North to south the rivers are the Haast, Okuru, Turnbull, Waiatoto and Arawhata. All rise on the main divide and flow out to the coast. After crossing the Arawhata the road follows the Jackson River which is a tributary of the Arawhata and crosses Martyr Saddle and then follows the Martyr River to the Cascade Valley. There the road crosses the Martyr River gorge via a little bridge perched high above the river, a very precarious spot.

First picture is looking up the Jackson Valley. Martyr Saddle is up in the murk.

Second picture is from the Cascade lookout looking towards the head of the Cascade River. The weather had cleared a little by this stage. The river may be seen at the right centre and in the far distance you can see the red exposed ultramafic rock that is prevalent in this region.

Third picture is looking down into the Cascade Valley towards the sea. The Cascade river may seen at the left with the Martyr flowing into it from the right. The long sloping ridge on the right delineates the edge of the Cascade Plateau. This feature was planed out by a huge glacier flowing out to the sea during the last ice age.

A band of ultramafic rock crosses the region. The vegetation changes from the lush tall forest high in plant diversity characteristic of this part of the world to a very stunted depauperate vegetation due to the high mineral content of the ultramafic rocks. The next four picture show some of the small plants an lichens found on this type of substrate.
Picture 4 is a small sundew Drosera spathulata.
Picture 5 is Lycopodium ramulosum
Picture 6 is the lichen Cladia retipora
Picture 7 is another lichen that is very common there.

The last picture in this posting is a general view showing the ultramafic vegetation. The prominent mound in the picture is an old moraine that is not ultramafic and consequently supports tall forest.

[David Lyttle]

A few more photos from South Westland with the pictures showing general views of the forest and of some ferns which grow in profusion in the damp conditions.

Picture 1 is Blechnum procerum which grows in abundance on banks etc,

Picture 2 is of Umbrella fern (Gleichenia cunninghamii) also abundant.

Picture 3 is Lycopodium volubile though not strictly a fern

Picture 4 and 5 are of tree fern groves, I think they are Dicksonia squarossa but I did not note the species at the time.

Picture 6 is a general view of the forest interior. Emergent trees are rimu (Dacrydium cupressinium) and silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii)

Picture 7 is of a swamp topped up by recent heavy rain. The dominant tree is kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides) with NZ flax (Phormium tenax) and the sedge Carex secta which has the non-PC name of niggerhead. For those of you in the UK who plant Phormium in your gardens this is how it really likes to grow!

Last picture is of the Jackson Valley with a rain squall bearing down.